Qa-23, 19 March 2018, Statement Of The Spokesperson Of The Ministry Of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Hami Aksoy, In Response To A Question Regarding The Statement By The Spokesperson Of The Us Department Of State On The Situation In Afrin

Republic Of Turkey Ministry Of Foreign Affairs 19.03.2018

The statement made today by the Spokesperson of the US Department of State
regarding the situation in Afrin reveals that the US authorities still
cannot or unfortunately do not want to comprehend the reason, purpose and
nature of Operation Olive Branch. Operation Olive Branch is a
counter-terrorism operation. The operation in no way targets civilians. On
the contrary, it aims to rescue the civilian population from the oppression
and tyranny of a terrorist organization. Moreover, all precautions have
been taken to avoid harming civilians and the civilian population has been
provided with access to humanitarian aid.

The claim that the operation conducted against terrorists in Afrin would
endanger the combat against DEASH is completely groundless. The approach
that actually undermines the combat against terrorism in Syria is the use
of one terrorist organization against another and allowing this particular
terrorist organization to create faits accomplis on the ground by pushing
forward its separatist agenda and to make demographic changes.